Biomedicines (Aug 2023)

Differences in Mortality and Sepsis-Associated Organ Dysfunction between Surgical and Non-Surgical Sepsis Patients

  • Caspar Mewes,
  • Julius Runzheimer,
  • Carolin Böhnke,
  • Benedikt Büttner,
  • Marcus Nemeth,
  • José Hinz,
  • Michael Quintel,
  • Ashham Mansur

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11082233
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 8
p. 2233

Abstract

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(1) Background: Patients with sepsis following surgical intervention may exhibit fundamental distinctions from those experiencing sepsis without prior surgery. Despite the potential clinical importance of distinguishing these two sepsis subpopulations, dissimilarities, particularly in outcome, between surgical and non-surgical patients have been subject to limited scientific investigations in the existing literature. This study aimed to investigate the differences in mortality and sepsis-associated organ dysfunction between these two groups. (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from a large cohort of prospectively enrolled patients with sepsis (n = 737) admitted to three intensive care units at University Medical Center Goettingen; patients were categorized into surgical (n = 582) and non-surgical sepsis groups (n = 155). The primary outcomes assessed were 28- and 90-day mortality rates, and secondary endpoints were multiple clinical parameters and measures of sepsis-associated organ dysfunction. (3) Results: Non-surgical patients presented a significantly higher 90-day mortality (37%) compared to surgical sepsis patients (30%, p = 0.0457). Moreover, the non-surgical sepsis group exhibited increased sepsis-associated organ dysfunction, as evidenced by higher average SOFA scores (p p = 0.0102), and a higher utilization of organ replacement therapies such as ventilation (p p p = 0.0364). Additionally, non-surgical sepsis patients had higher organ-specific SOFA respiratory (p p p p = 0.0206) subscores. (4) Conclusions: These results suggested that patients with non-surgical sepsis may face distinct challenges and a higher risk of adverse outcomes compared to patients with sepsis following surgical intervention. These findings have important implications for clinical decision-making, patient management, and resource allocation in sepsis care.

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